In the mood for dancingThe musical Billy Elliot is unforgettably brilliant. By Susannah Clapp for The Observer

A line of orange boiler-suits meets a row of tutus. A round-faced schoolboy pulls on a pink skirt and a glitter headband: clawing at the proscenium arch, he tosses his head towards his mate, and, in a Geordie accent, demands: 'Sing it to me, sister.' On a smoke-filled stage, a slender 12-year-old leapfrogs over an adult dancer and spins into the air on a flying machine; he's so constitutionally airborne that you can scarcely tell when he's harnessed and when free. He comes back to earth at the feet of his astonished, rooted father.

The brilliance of Billy Elliot - The Musical, Stephen Daldry's fierce and gorgeous improvement on his own movie, is that it never says anything if it can dance it. It makes its points on its toes. That adult dancer is the older Billy, tugging his younger self away from a mining future.

The film of Billy Elliot delights ballet-lovers and the musical is guaranteed to give even more pleasure. One of its endearing messages is that everyone can dance: miners, policemen, little girls and growing boys. Peter Darling tailors his choreography to suit each of the three casts....

In the son of a miner dancing to Sir Elton's tunes, Thatcher and Scargill are finally reconciled.

...

But what Billy Elliot and its rapturous reception show is that the miners' strike is now, emphatically, a closed book, and that the questions it raised - Who governs? Is the rule of law stronger than militant organised labour? Can the insurrectionary Left ever be defeated? - have all been definitively answered.

"The last three songs completely got me again," he says. "When Billy sings the duet with his dead mum, when he sings Electricity about what it’s like to dance, and when the miners go down into the pit singing When We Were Kings... I was blubbing. I didn’t think I would be relaxed enough to give it my full emotions, but from the word go I was away."

This girl said 'It's Billy Elliot!' and waved at meBy Damian Whitworth for The Times

Three boys were plucked from nowehere to share the role of Billy Elliot in the new West End musical. How are they coping with the pressures of instant fame?

THE slightly built adolescent wearing jeans and a tutu stands bathed in the spotlight in the centre of a West End stage as a packed house rises to its feet to salute him, cheering and clapping their hands above their heads.

A Miner's Son Who Dreams, Then Dancesby BEN BRANTLEY for the New York Times

"Billy Elliot" possesses a sharp and fertile mind that works strategically to keep the tears and cheers coming. It also has blissfully restless legs, thanks to choreography by Peter Darling that turns every character on stage, and by proxy the entire audience, into a dancing fool.

I'm not entirely surprised by Lahr's reaction. When I saw the stage version of "Billy Elliott" I realised that the focus on left-wing politics and the regular, but not interminable use of "bad" language would make a successful transfer to the US difficult. I imagine that even as we speak there are discussions about a sanitised version for Broadway - I hope the producers resist any such dilution of the show's rich brew.

Yes, the songs do lack memorable tunes. However, due to the pithy libretto, they work dramatically. But really! The final curtain call scene has nothing to do with the rest of the production and, full of cliches, is the weakest part. If that's the section Lehr enjoyed the most, he missed the point, more than somewhat.

Exactly five years to the month since the film was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival, Billy Elliot – The Musical opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre on May 11. The musical has attracted a great deal of attention from the press over the last two years – from viewing auditions and meeting the first cast of Billys to music launches and hearing the songs performed live by Sir Elton John – and has now won astounding reviews from theatre and dance critics alike.

Last dance for a real-life Billy Elliotby TOM LEONARD for the Daily Telegraph

Now he has had to step down early from the role. At 15 he is just too big to play a 12-year-old, and, more importantly, his voice has broken.

His last performance drew two standing ovations and an on-stage tribute from Daldry. The director points out afterwards that even the ushers and bar staff crowded into the dress circle to watch Lomas's final turn.

Billy Elliot prepares to take to the international stageby CHARLOTTE HIGGINS for the Guardian

It may seem unlikely that an apparently parochial tale about a Geordie boy choosing ballet over boxing during the miners' strike could become a hit overseas, but producers hope it will soon not just be the British who are flocking to see the musical.

Plans are afoot to send the show to Japan, Germany, Canada, Australia and the US. "We want to broaden out the show worldwide," said the show's director, Stephen Daldry.

Colour-blind casting finds new stars for Billy Elliotby LOUISE JURY for the Independent

"I'm incredibly proud," he said. "The tenacity and determination and courage of these children is almost magnified in children that come from different ethnic backgrounds. It would be morally reprehensible not to choose them. The casting department has never been given any guidelines on the racial background. They respond only to their enthusiasm and talent."

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